Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Haunted Halberd
by ChronoWeapon
Summary: Taking place 6 months after Odyssey of Dreams(Previous Fan Fiction), Meta Knight stares into the sky with Dedede's telescope only to see a horrifying parody of his Halberd come through a deep red wormhole. As it turns out General Dee and his Gadgeteers were making a new Halberd but the helping Mekkai find something horrible hidden away in the ships computer! Find out what!
1. The Accident

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Haunted Halberd

By: ChronoWeapon

Chapter 1: The Accident

*Castle Dedede, Observatory*

Meta Knight stood alone in the cool dark observatory gazing at the skies through the massive telescope. He mused quietly to himself, "Hmm, ever since Dark Star exploded six months ago its debris has been striking Pop Star. However, tonight the skies seem clear. I suppose it has finally stopped," he spoke softly as he turned away for a sip of a Pep Drink from an indigo colored mug. "Nevertheless, I have seen many strange things fall from the skies since then. I hope this is not a bad omen," he said as he peered back into the telescope. Meta Knight gazed for a few more moments until a red glare illuminated the left side of the telescope. Intrigued, he guided the telescope in that direction to see what the source was. What he saw tied his gut into a knot. A portal in the shape of a crudely shaped five point star emerged in Pop Star's upper atmosphere. The portal was an evil reddish hue bathed in black spirals and as he gazed into it a shadowy figure emerged from it. Meta Knight gasped with surprise, "W-what is this?!" he exclaimed in astonishment. "A star ship? No…, is that…, 'MY' ship?" He gazed at the strange star ship as it now loomed over Pop Star's orbit. The portal now closed behind it. It was changed considerably nevertheless it still retained Meta Knight's mask insignia imprinted at the bow. It has much larger 'X' patterned wings and it appeared to be crudely conglomerated with other ancient starships and space junk. Finally, its engines gave off the same red glow as the portal albeit with a slow flashing rhythm not unlike a heartbeat.

Then suddenly, a knock came at the wooden door and Sword and Blade came through with multiple Waddle Dees. Sword spoke uneasily, "Meta Knight sir, we just got contacted by General Dee of Cloud Sea City; he says he wants you, Kirby and the others to come to his base! We have a situation on our hands!"

Meta Knight stepped down from the telescope, "Tell him we'll be there as soon as possible! I think I know what this is about."

"Yes, sir!" Sword and Blade responded in unison.

*Several Days Earlier, Crash Clouds Weather Base Hangar*

Gadget Dee shouted orders at his fellow Gadgeteers to carefully move parts around for what would become a replica of Meta Knight's Halberd. It was nearly completed and only needed a few more finishing touches. Mekkai platforms could be seen wandering the hangar also assisting in the construction of the proud star ship. Gizmo Doo held his paperwork in hand and scratched his head with the eraser end of a pencil as he performed calculations. The Waddlekin Gadgeteers under their watch hummed a catchy song as they diligently worked on the advanced war machine while the Mekkai platforms played appropriate music to match their humming. Meta Knight's old crew was also present as they made suggestions to the crew on the Halberd's new design. They called the new ship the Halberd 2.5. A Waddle Dee Gadgeteer approached Gizmo Doo, "Everything is preceding smoothly sir!" he informed with a salute.

Gizmo Doo gave his attention to the employee, "Ah, thank you Supervisor. I can always count on you to get your job done. Love the 'music' today as well. Keep up the good work!" he encouraged with a nod of approval.

A sudden power surge shocked the entire hangar and dimmed the lights. Gadget came running to Gizmo, "Why does that keep happening? Is it something aboard the ship's computer mainframe?"

Just then as Gadget finished his sentence, the Mekkai A.I chimed in over the intercom. "Attention, unknown program replicated from previous ship model has not yet been scrubbed. Would you like us to scrub it?

Gizmo shouted back through a mobile receiver phone, "Yes, please do!" he ordered politely.

"Now scrubbing unknown program…," the Mekkai announced diligently.

As the Mekkai began their data configuring process, Gadget Dee and Gizmo Doo met up and retreated to their office for a conversation. "Everything seems to be in order so far," Gadget Dee claimed as he stretched.

"Yes, everything except for the massive power drain we get every time we attempt to work on the ship's mainframe computer," Gizmo Doo said worriedly as he let his gaze fall.

"Not to worry, the Mekkai will figure it out!" Gadget Dee said with reassurance. "What better way to analyze a computer than with another computer?" he finished with a light chuckle.

As the two paused in their conversation the lights went out again as did all power in the facility. Gizmo Doo responded with frustration in the complete darkness, "Bah, this has really got to…," he said as he was interrupted by strange noises outside the office. Suddenly, all across the facility screams of Waddlekin Scientists, Gadgeteers and Mechanics filled the hangar.

Gadget Dee opened the door hurriedly only to be greeted with a Mekkai robot whose lighting was crimson red and it was sputtering mad. "W-what is this?!" Gadget said stunned as the robot began sputtering in response.

"ERROR, ERROR, ERROR, errOR, ERror, ErRoR, ERROR…!" repeated the Mekkai robots constantly in a panicked and wild state as they began to attack the Waddlekin. The robot that greeted the stunned Gadget Dee smacked him in the face with its Yo-yo and he flew into a wall.

"Gadget!" Gizmo Doo shouted in fear. The Mekkai robots chanted the word 'Error' over and over as the new Halberd suddenly fired up and shined with the same red crimson light as the Mekkai robots. With a bright and powerful flash that shook the entire hangar a strange spatial distortion occurred. Gizmo Doo covered his face and ducked beneath his desk, shivering in fear. Gadget Dee stayed unconscious in the wall as the bright light suddenly faded without the expected explosion. As Gizmo Doo cowered he slowly realized that all was silent as bright natural sunlight filled the hangar. He quickly left the office as Gadget Dee stumbled outside with him rubbing his sore face. What they saw was devastating, a massive hole in the hangar let in the sunlight and clouds could be seen floating by and the new ship was nowhere to be found. Many Waddlekin Gadgeteers and Mechanics lie injured with some silent and other's whimpering in pain attempted to regain their composure. As Gizmo gazed at the wreckage he quickly noticed all Mekkai robots were shut down and mangled into scrap.

Gizmo Doo rushed to a fire alarm and pulled it. "The Admiral's going to flip his top!" he whined. The entire weather base lit up with a loud alarm and flashing lights.

Gadget Dee faced Gizmo Doo as he began to back up towards the exit of the hangar, "Forget the Admiral, General Dee's going to have our…!" he was cut off as he backed into someone.

As he turned around his gaze met with General Dee's livid expression, "By all mean's Gadget, give me some idea's!" he said irately as he crossed his arms.

"GAH, General Dee, you're here already?!" Gadget Dee said with a fearful shout.

Admiral Doo followed General Dee and he was stunned, "What the heck happened in here? Why is there a massive hole in my hangar?! And where is the new Halberd for that matter?!"

"No time to worry about that!" General Dee said as he hit the button on the intercom. "Medics! Weather Base Hangar, NOW!"

*Present Day, Cappy Town*

It was a bright and sunny afternoon as Kirby took a nap in his tree as opposed to his house. Tokkori flew quickly to Kirby's side, "Hey junior, its high noon! How long do you plan on sleeping?" he asked as he rudely pecked at Kirby's face in an effort to awaken him. Kirby stirred in a hurry and rolled down the tree and into the soft lush grass. As Kirby regained his composure, Tiff and her brother Tuff came running up to him.

"Hey, Kirby!" Tuff greeted with a cheerful smile. "How's it going?"

"Are you still sleeping in that tree Kirby?" Tiff asked with agitated concern.

"Poyo!" Kirby responded with a smile.

"I can't believe Tokkori!" Tuff responded irately.

"Well, no use worrying about it now…," Tiff relented with a sigh. "Anyway, I came to come get you Kirby. Meta Knight and Dedede are headed to Cloud Sea City to speak with General Dee and Admiral Doo about something urgent and Meta Knight urged us all to come. Adeleine, you, Waddle Dee and even I were requested to come. I don't know what General Dee wants but he sounded quite worried!"

Kirby quickly became serious and got to his feet with a nod of agreement. "Let's go!" Kirby shouted strongly.

*Crash Clouds Weather Base*

Kirby and his party, consisting of Ribbon, Waddle Dee, Tiff, Adeleine, King Dedede and Meta Knight were gathered around General Dee's office as he finished explaining the situation to them. "And that's what we have on our hands so far. We even lost contact with the Mekkai, which has me double worried...," General Dee exclaimed glumly.

Meta Knight spoke up first, "General I thank you and your people for the newly reconstructed ship. It's a real shame for things to end up this way."

"Well you know what they say, 'No good deed goes unpunished', nevertheless Chapman is going to be ticked his money just went down the toilet!" General Dee noted as he slapped his desktop in frustration.

Gadget and Gizmo sulked, "We're so sorry General!" Gizmo whined.

"Now, now boys, I'm not angry with you, just the situation," General Dee started. "It was an accident if we were ready for these types of situations we wouldn't call them 'accidents'!"

"That's our General!" Gadget said with tears of joy.

"So forgiving and understanding!" Gizmo added.

"Alright, that's enough, "Admiral Doo said calmingly as he typed away at his computer. "You two head back down to the hangar and start repairing that hole in the wall."

"Yes, Sir!" they said simultaneously as they headed back to the hangar.

Admiral Doo left his computer for a moment and came forward. "Meta Knight, I've been meaning to bring this up. Your Halberd is an amazingly advanced starship, even greater than my War Blimps. If I understand the reports, you smuggled that machine here to this planet. How did you accomplish this?"

Meta Knight shrugged, "One piece at a time Admiral. I made purchase orders under false names to Holy Nightmare during the war with the money I made doing mercenary jobs on the side. After that I had them shipped to undisclosed locations only I knew about. Once the Galaxy Soldier Military was defeated and I made it here to Popstar, I had delivery services ship the parts here."

"And just how did you find the time to put those parts together?" Admiral Doo interrogated further.

"With the help of your people of course," Meta Knight elaborated. "The King had many Waddlekin working for him. Most of which did not speak the common tongue. Our Waddle Doo who spoke the common tongue brought Waddlekin Gadgeteers to my attention that was present in the King's service. I bought him off to keep him quiet about the Halberd and in turn borrowed the Gadgeteers to construct it. Since there were so many Waddlekin under Dedede's service he couldn't count them so he never noticed the Gadgeteers missing from the rest when they were down below finishing up my ship."

"You're a clever one aren't you?" Admiral Doo laughed heartily.

Ribbon giggled, "Wow, Meta Knight you're one smooth operator!"

Dedede stamped his foot in irritation, "And you did all this behind my back?!" he growled.

"Indeed, Sire," Meta Knight chuckled lightly. "You seemed preoccupied with other endeavors, besides everyone needs a hobby."

"I guess that explains that and how the Waddle Dees had the skills to help Kirby defeat that Domestic Servant Robot that Dedede ordered to replace them," Tiff said reminiscing.

Waddle Dee was astonished, "What, why would you replace my people with a monster?!"

"Enough kiddies," General Dee said calming everyone down. "Ahem, back to the matter at hand, it seems as though that Halberd has reappeared but my main concern is not the ship as is for my men and Meta Knight's old crewmen."

Meta Knight stared intently at General Dee, "Come again?"

"The problem here Meta Knight, is that most of my top scientists and your old crewmen were aboard that ship when it vanished," General Dee revealed.

Suddenly, the mood dropped into a gut wrenching atmosphere as the Admiral lied down the statistics. "Ahem, we had fifty scientists working in the hangar and forty four have now been reported missing. We only have the six mathematicians left and they are so shook up they can't even find the value of 'X' anymore. As for Gadget and Gizmo, well you seen them, they nearly popped a gasket," he concluded.

"Of those scientists, I had 11 metallurgists, 12 architects, 10 programmers, 7 physicists and 4 technicians that are on that ship somewhere and I hope to get them off that ship!" General Dee said intently. "You people have no idea how hard it is to come by Waddlekin Scientists! Without them, I have nothing but lost Gadgeteers and Mechanics with no direction! Many of which are in the hospital thanks to whatever the heck happened to the Mekkai!"

"So how do we help General?" Adeleine asked inquisitively.

"Ah, that's where you come in," Admiral Doo added. "Meta Knight, since this is your ship technically, we are asking you to lead a party of your choosing with two helpers and board the ship."

"And what of the others I don't choose?" Meta Knight asked curiously.

"As we just mentioned, we lost all contact with the Mekkai as well," Admiral Doo continued. "And if I know Overseer Mecheye, she's in a frenzy attempting to regain control of the situation."

"So you want Kirby and the others to go check on them?" Ribbon finished for them.

"Precisely, my little fairy," Admiral Doo added.

"Let's try to get this operation done as soon as possible," General Dee proposed strongly. "We don't need this kind of distraction right now, as a matter of fact, I need this like I need a staple in the arm!" he said as he slammed his arm down on his desk only to inadvertently smash a packet of fresh staples. "Yeeoowch! Staples! Excuse me for a second would you?!" he said as he spun around in his chair and began taking the staples out of his arm.

Admiral Doo shot the General a cross gaze, "Anyway, when you're ready, report to the hangar where my War Blimp is I'll take you to the Halberd Meta Knight."

*Crash Clouds Weather Base, Hangar*

Kirby and his friends all gathered in the hangar ready to board the War Blimp, "So Meta Knight, have you decided who to take with you?" Admiral Doo asked hopefully.

"Yes, I am taking Dedede and Waddle Dee with me," Meta Knight claimed without hesitation.

"Ah, good choice, the King's strength and Do-rag's own Gadgeteer ability will prove useful!" Admiral Doo said confidently.

Waddle Dee and Dedede gathered around Meta Knight ready to go and they boarded the blimp, "Kirby, that means you and the others see to the Mekkai. I'm sure Mecha Kirby will be glad to see you," Meta Knight said with a light chuckle.

As everyone finished boarding the War Blimp, its engines roared and it began to take off. Within a few short minutes it was outside and on its way to the Halberd.

"Well Kirby, here we go," Tiff started as she cupped her hands around her mouth. "Kabu, send the Warp Star!" her voice chimed as it echoed spiritually to Kabu.

"Waarrrp Staaarr!" Kabu bellowed as he unleashed Kirby's prime vehicle. Within a few moments the Warp Star appeared in the hangar. It stopped in front of Kirby and expanded in size as Kirby, Ribbon, Tiff and Adeleine boarded.

"Gee, I hope the Mekkai are alright, I would hate to battle Mecha Kirby again!" Adeleine said with worry.

"Oh, please don't remind me of those battles!" Tiff moaned in protest.

"Not to worry, I'm sure everything will be okay!" Ribbon said positively.

"Poyo-poyo!" Kirby agreed as the Warp Star took off.

*Yogurt Yard, Mekkai Mining Facility*

Over the course of six months, the Mekkai made themselves at home in the deep ravines of Yogurt Yard. A new factory had been constructed around the Mekkai Mining Frigate, which in and of itself became the repurposed control center of that factory. It had been reconstructed entirely into a large tower that was at the epicenter of the new mining facility. As Kirby and his friends landed they quickly noticed the factory was operational but no robots around to manage it. "This is creepy…," Ribbon said with a shiver.

"I know, I hope the Mekkai are just recuperating…," Tiff said looking around.

"How could the Mekkai have been corrupted?" Adeleine started quizzically. "General Dee said something about a program they were scrubbing before they went berserk. I wonder if it really was a virus…" As the party conversed among themselves, they quietly reached the Mekkai Headquarters. Kirby pounded on the door only to find the place completely sealed with no way of entering. The party tried everything they could think of until Adeleine was stricken with inspiration. "I got it, I'll just draw up a door!" she said as she took out her brush and color palette. Just as she mixed up the necessary colors her ears caught wind of a strange noise.

"Error…, Error…, Error…, Error…," echoed a mechanical voice. Kirby's party quickly looked around as they attempted to locate the source. To no avail, the source along with the voice suddenly vanished.

Tiff spoke to Adeleine without facing her, "Adeleine, paint the door, please… paint the door. I get the feeling were being watched!" she whispered nervously.

Adeleine nervously finished mixing her colors and with a cold sweat, she placed the head of her brush on the sealed metal door. She began to paint a solid dark shady door with a determined expression that hid her growing anticipation. She began to quickly use up the paint on her brush and she placed her brush back to her palette for more and as she gathered the paint the voice returned. "Error…, Error…, Error…, Error…," echoed the voice softly.

"Where is that coming from?! I can't see it anywhere," Ribbon said as every muscle in her body braced itself.

Adeleine placed her brush against metal again and continued to paint, but as she did so she also heard a scratching noise on the other side of the door. She was only a foot away from the ground when this started. When she stopped the noise also stopped. Gathering more paint, the voice began again, "Error…, Error…, Error…, Error…," it echoed softly.

Kirby placed his hand over his brow and scanned the area looking intently for the source, "Can't find, poyo…," he said as he clicked his tongue in frustration.

Adeleine placed her brush on the door again but this time very hesitantly. Going against her better instincts Adeleine finished the door and as it began to slowly materialize a single red light could be seen and Adeleine came to a horrible realization. Luckily, in an instant before the door was completed, Kirby and his team were tackled and grabbed by an unknown jet propelled robot. Just as Kirby's party was grabbed, a large mechanical hand created from a crane holding a circular saw emerged from the smoke only to just barely miss Kirby's team. The voice completely audible now, echoed, "Error…, Error…, Error…, Error!"

Kirby's party opened their eyes in the air ducts at the top of the tower with large fans blowing softly. As they regrouped they brought their attention to the robot that saved them. It was none other than Mecha Kirby using his Jet ability. Mecha Kirby discarded his Jet ability and returned to his normal state. "Front door dangerous, poyo!" he whirred.

"Wha-, Mecha Kirby's okay?" Ribbon said relieved. "That's wonderful!"

"Huh, this situation has Mecha Kirby and the Mekkai's role's reversed!" Tiff said in astonishment.

"Yeah, Mecha Kirby's the good guy and the Mekkai are…, um, well 'bad'," Adeleine muttered with uncertainty.

"Find core, shut down, reboot!" Mecha Kirby explained as best it could.

"Well, let's get moving!" Tiff urged.

With a vigorous agreement from Kirby the team followed Mecha Kirby into the ducts. Quietly, Kirby and the others made their way through the narrowing corridors as they peered down into the factory via grates. Kirby peered down into the factory and found it eerily empty save for crimson lights running around in the darkness below. The word, 'Error' was also being repeated constantly throughout the factory. As time went on, Kirby finally found a room below that was free of the violent robots and Mecha Kirby opened the grate allowing passage. They entered the factory below and found themselves in a small storage room. Mecha Kirby moved away a little and made room to project a hologram. He equipped the same hi-tech visor that Kirby used when he used his Copy ability. The beam showed a map of the Mekkai headquarters. "Well, this is helpful!" Adeleine said cheerfully. "Core in basement!" Mecha Kirby stated. "Floor below!" he finished as he put his copy visor away.

"Yeah, but that is a long walk across the factory from here," Tiff said with a gulp.

Mecha Kirby approached the door and Kirby's party braced for something to rush them. He opened the door and nothing greeted them, thankfully. Kirby and his friends poked their heads outside and found the factory lights to still be off, but the machines were still running. Computer screens put out little light. Kirby and the gang quietly followed Mecha Kirby through the crowded maze-like factory. Conveyer belts moved at their highest speeds and CNC machines cut out parts from sheets of material, or so they thought. Upon reaching one of the CNC machines it was moving at the highest possible speed and writing binary into a sheet of material. Mecha Kirby analyzed it and shrunk back in fear. "What's wrong Mecha Kirby?" Ribbon asked with concern. He gave her a sad expression from his digital eyes and began to translate the binary into the common tongue. He then projected it just like he did the map from earlier and all it was, was a wall of text with the word 'HATE' repeated many, many times. Kirby's party gained a mixture of despair and fear among themselves. Ribbon then flew over to the power cord and pulled the plug causing the CNC to shut down completely. There were four CNC machines plus a small engraver that wrote words on parts. Ribbon unplugged all of them making the factory a little quieter and sighed with relief. Her relief was short lived however, as a large machine came down from the ceiling, making itself known. "Error…, Error…, Error…, Error!" screeched the robot. The robot resembled GIM hat and all, but was far bigger, had four-legs, and large crane for an arm with a massive circular saw built into the 'palm'. It also had four elongated smoke stacks on its backside; nevertheless its most horrifying feature was its 'face'. It had a single eye like GIM, but it gleamed red and below it dangled many surgical tools.

"GIM Stalker!" Mecha Kirby warned aloud.

"GIM, what happened to you?" Tiff asked rhetorically in horror.

"RUN!" Adeleine shouted as Kirby and his team began dashing through the factory to avoid the horrific parody of GIM. The GIM Stalker brought down its crane arm to grab Kirby only to miss as he Slide Kicked underneath its vicious grab. Kirby's slide kick knocked over a large barrel of metal parts that hit the floor. Kirby smiled as he caught his eye on a pulley wheel and inhaled it.

Kirby transformed into Wheel Kirby as a result, "Wheel Kirby!" he announced strongly. He then transformed into the large pink wheel and ran circles around the GIM Stalker. It could not catch Wheel Kirby as it swung its saw into various shelves. This allowed Kirby's friends to make it to another room while it was distracted. Wheel Kirby managed to trick the GIM Stalker into hitting a flammable tank and explode on it. This propelled Wheel Kirby out of danger and through the door his friends went through before it closed on him. Mecha Kirby then sealed the door. Kirby transformed back out of Wheel form but kept the ability. He shook himself off and wore a confident smile as he tipped his hat.

"Nice one Kirby," Tiff said with a relieving sigh.

Mecha Kirby took his own Copy ability and analyzed Kirby copying his Wheel power for himself. Unlike the real Kirby however, he did not wear a hat. "We got to keep moving!" Adeleine said urgently.

"Proceeding!" Mecha Kirby whirred as the team regrouped.

This room contained dice cutting machines and water cutting machines that also repeated the malevolent binary. The gang continued and Kirby took the opportunity to copy both his Metal ability and Water ability from the machines. Once Kirby finished copying abilities to use, the Mekkai Robots poured into the room all screeching the 'Error' message. "Looks like GIM warned everyone!" Ribbon shrieked.

"I guess we'll just have to plow them all down!" Tiff said gnashing her teeth in desperation. She reached into her back pack and took out her Multi-Form Commando Weapon and changed it into its bazooka form.

Adeleine painted her face and transformed into her Golem form, "Let's rock and roll right through them!"

The Mekkai robots attacked within an instant. Kirby and Mecha Kirby used their Wheel abilities and Adeleine rolled in a similar fashion to plow them all down. Tiff on the other hand blasted any strays with her barrage of rockets. Despite all the explosions, the team made it to the yellow elevator. Everyone managed to board the industrial elevator and Ribbon pushed the button, "Come on, come on, come on!" she chanted hurriedly. Many Mekkai Robots tried in vain to attack Kirby's party while aboard but only got crushed as it proceeded downward. Finally, the commotion stopped until only the elevator could be heard. However, the relief was short lived as the elevator suddenly stopped and its position slacked. "Uh, oh!" Tiff shouted. Suddenly, a loud boom on the top of the elevator caught the team's attention. The sound of a circular saw could be heard as it cut through cable wires.

"GIM Stalker!" Mecha Kirby whirred. The elevator cables snapped and the elevator began to plummet down as GIM Stalker began reaching from the sides of the elevator with his crane arm. The saw in GIM's arm was propelled like a Yo-yo and Kirby's team had trouble avoiding and retaliating. Mecha Kirby changed his form into something new. "Drill Mecha Kirby!" he announced. Drill Mecha Kirby leaped over to Tiff, who turned her head just in time to see GIM's saw head straight for her. Thankfully, before it touched her, Mecha Kirby blocked the saw with two large drills that came from his arms. Tiff's face was showered with sparks as the two deadly tools collided. GIM retracted its saw and Mecha Kirby retracted his drills, but Mecha Kirby followed with a large drill that came from the top of his head and he jumped up. The sound of GIM taking damage could be heard alongside a flurry of sparks.

"Wow, Drill Mecha Kirby, huh, it looks like he combined Needle with Metal!" Adeleine deduced.

Not wanting to be outdone by his mechanical counterpart, Kirby transformed with a new compound ability, with a flash of light he now wore a silver colored hat with a gear like brim he wore backwards. "Crazy Cog Kirby!" he announced as he took the form of a large metal gear with a yellow star print in the center. GIM sent his saw back down and Kirby revved up his new form and they collided with a shower of sparks. Kirby's new ability was far more powerful however, and it destroyed GIM's saw. Kirby then leaped out of the elevator to confront GIM. As the new abilities name implies it bounced around haphazardly. Since this was happening in a small space, GIM took hits from all sides, unable to retaliate. Finally, with an explosion from its exhaust, GIM jumped and grabbed the walls to stop its decent, retreating from battle.

"Everyone out before this thing hits bottom!" Tiff said changing into her Kunoichi ability.

Adeleine painted her face and changed into Gao Gao. Both girls leaped out and stuck themselves to the walls as Ribbon and Mecha Kirby flew out along with them. Kirby on the other hand allowed his hard metal gear shaped body to simply plummet and a loud crash could be heard once the elevator hit the last floor. "Kirby!" everyone shouted sans Mecha Kirby.

The remaining team members reached the crumpled up elevator and found Kirby unharmed as he reverted back to normal form with a sigh followed by a smile. "Oh, he's okay," Ribbon stated with relief. The others simply sighed in relief as well, except for Mecha Kirby. Upon reaching the bottom, Mecha Kirby opened the door with his drills. "Proceed!" he urged with a bright expression on his digital eyes.

The reactor room was left largely untouched as the view of the reactor core came into view. Its crystalline core shined brilliantly. As they approached the core however, GIM came from the ceiling and cut them off. "Crud…, well guys, any ideas?" Ribbon asked hopefully.

"Mecha Kirby fix!" Mecha Kirby stated. "Please backup!"

"Okay, here goes nothing!" Tiff shouted as she threw Kunai Knives at GIM. The knives did very little as GIM batted Tiff aside forcing her to loose her Kunoichi power. Kirby transformed and slammed into GIM with his hard metal body. This distraction was all Mecha Kirby needed as he flew up to the reactor's core computer. He began infiltrating the computer in its 'Safe Mode' to prevent self corruption.

Adeleine was beaten out of her Gao Gao form and tossed aside. "Ung, GIM is so stupidly strong!" she moaned as she got to her feet.

"I know it may be difficult but we need to stay out of range!" Tiff suggested as she reused her Commando ability.

"Yeah, that seems like the best strategy!" Adeleine agreed as she transformed into Dullaheat. Tiff and Adeleine bombarded GIM with rockets and fiery sword beams while Kirby tanked him with powerful slams from his Crazy Cog ability.

As the battle raged, Mecha Kirby finally got the shut down sequence underway. The core began closing as unnecessary programs began to close. Kirby and his friends cheered on Mecha Kirby from the sides as GIM now changed who it decided needed to be hit. It was smacked aside however by Kirby before it could act on that decision. Another set of programs began shutting down and GIM began to feel the loss. It began to lumber about as it now only wanted to attack Mecha Kirby. It batted Kirby away with a lucky swing and repelled Tiff and Adeleine with an electrical shock wave, forcing them to loose their abilities. With no one to protect him, Mecha Kirby was vulnerable. Ribbon could only shriek in horror as GIM brought down its arm to grab Mecha Kirby. However, GIM only received a flurry of sparks as it forgot about Mecha Kirby's Drill ability. GIM was repelled as the last batch of programs closed and the core's light was fully concealed. All lights went out save for GIM's eye light which was the last thing to go out as it slowly chanted the word, 'Error'.

"Uh, guys?" Ribbon called out.

"Yeah?" Tiff responded wearily.

"It's really dark in here…," Ribbon said bluntly.

"Not completely though, I can still see Mecha Kirby's eyes!" Adeleine pointed out.

"Poyo, success!" Mecha Kirby cheered as his digital eyes gained a happy expression.

"Poyo, poyo!" Kirby followed cheerfully.

Then suddenly, the factory came back to life as the core began to open. A voice came from over the intercom, "Reboot commencing, recovering from unknown error, please allow time for complete restoration!"

"Hey, that's GIM's voice; well…, at least it's the GIM we know!" Tiff said happily.

Although disembodied, GIM quickly took notice, "Disconnected from Overseer Mecheye, approximately 32,476,932,145,267 attempts by Overseer to reestablish connection and growing. Now reconnecting, please wait!" GIM stated.

With a sudden surge of power, Overseer Mecheye's feminine voice took GIM's place, "Oh my, what has happened here?" she asked with the concern of a worried mother.

"Overseer…, we became…, a demon beast…," GIM said realizing shame.

"Do not fret GIM, I will make everything right again," Mecheye claimed softly. "Kirby, thanks to you and my Mecha Kirby, I can repair the damage done to my children. Please wait while I analyze the situation…," she said she collected data. "I see this is because of a program hidden within Meta Knight's vessel. It was transported it to another location in space then returned shortly after, altered. Kirby, this vessel is corrupted by an unknown but very malevolent force, so I advise caution of critical degree!"

"Yeah, we seen what it did to GIM," Tiff said still a little shaken.

Ribbon interjected, "Overseer, could you establish a connection to General Dee, he's worried sick. The Mekkai brought harm to his men!"

"Oh dear, this will not do!" Mecheye fretted. "I am now establishing a connection to the Cloud Sea Weather Base!"

Within a few moments, General Dee's voice came up, "Overseer Mecheye, is that you? What happened over there?!" he asked frantically.

"We must apologize, General," Mecheye started. "The program aboard Meta Knight's vessel scrambled my children's circuits and disconnected me from them. We are back in control now though, but in light of all these damages, we cannot help you with your troubles. Are the Waddlekin we harmed okay?"

"Oh thank goodness," General Dee started with a deep sigh of relief. "But to answer your question, yes, there were no deaths to speak of and everyone will make a full recovery."

"We are happy to hear of this, General," Mecheye added.

"Speaking of which, I have some bad news…," General Dee began. "We lost contact with Meta Knight and the others shortly after they boarded that evil looking ship, can't contact them at all. Admiral Doo can't get his blimp close enough now to see anything without it retaliating. Kirby, I hate to ask this, but it looks like you'll have to go in and have a look," he finished with a hint of regret.

"Oh, no, Meta Knight…," Tiff said with worry.

"Waddle Dee…, and Dedede too…," Adeleine followed.

"Poyo, Kirby find friends!" Kirby said determined.

"We are sorry we cannot give you anymore assistance," Mecheye stated with regret. "But we cannot afford another encounter with that ship in our condition. Mecha Kirby, please help with the repairs," she finished.

"Poyo!" Mecha Kirby cheered. Kirby's Warp Star made its way down the elevator shaft and waited there.

As Kirby and the others left to board the Warp Star, Tiff stopped near GIM's empty shell. "GIM, sorry we had to rough you up like that. Please get better soon!" she said with concern.

"We…, will endure," GIM retorted.

Kirby's party left the Mekkai to recover and quickly made their way to Admiral Doo for more information, hoping he could provide more answers.

*End of Chapter*


	2. Rescue Mission! Lingering Malevolence!

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Haunted Halberd

By: ChronoWeapon

Chapter 2: Rescue Mission! Lingering Malevolence

*Admiral Doo's War Blimp*

Kirby landed his Warp Star on the deck of Admiral Doo's War Blimp and as he and his party approached Admiral Doo, they witnessed him having a conversation with Argent Lady Sylvanya and Trade Regent Chapman. The party's presence was quickly noticed. "Kirby, thank goodness you're alright," Admiral Doo said with relief.

"Kirby and company, glad to see you again," Chapman said with a large smile that moved his puffy beard and mustache. "Have the Mekkai been restored?"

Kirby nodded, "Poyo, all better!"

"Good to know, it would have been really sad to loose such a fascinating people," Sylvanya claimed with relief. "Nevertheless, we have a much larger problem what with Meta Knight's Halberd."

"I heard. Have you seen anything at all about the others?" Tiff asked with growing concern.

"No, not one bit, the ship is moving, but it is very quiet, even the engines don't give off much noise," Admiral Doo said with bewilderment.

"It's as if the engines aren't working at all," Sylvanya followed in confusion.

"If they aren't running, then what's making it go?" Chapman asked puzzled.

"…Ghost power…?" Admiral Doo concluded.

"I was afraid you'd say that…," Chapman retorted with a slump.

"Kirby, this ship is afflicted with a vast amount of hate and malice," Sylvanya started. "I will accompany you to the ship but I will remain at the bow on the deck. When you find General Dee's men, I will help them escape, by transporting them back here to the blimp. I beg you to search every nook and cranny for them, they must be scared out of their minds," she finished with pity. "Before you go, just ask Chapman if you need some supplies. When you're ready I will follow you to the ship."

Kirby and the gang received replacement weapons from Chapman as well as some extra supplies. With a salute to the Admiral, Kirby and the team boarded the Warp Star and Sylvanya transformed her cape into angel wings and accompanied them. Sylvanya said a prayer and the team became wrapped in holy light. The team penetrated the hateful atmosphere unharmed and landed safely on deck. Sylvanya positioned herself on the bow of the ship and prayed until a circle of white soothing light was formed. "Bring the scientists here and they shall remain safe in this consecrated place. Once they enter I will transport them to the Admiral's blimp. May Palutena's blessing be with you!" she said with high hope.

Kirby and company left Sylvanya and began a slow and cautious trek on the deck of the ship. It was night time now and the only light available was the deep red crimson light that filled the engines. The air was thick with dark fog and felt heavy with negative emotions. As Kirby closed in, he caught sight of a shadowy figure on the bridge. It vanished before Kirby could make out any characteristics. "Did you see something Kirby?" Ribbon asked nervously. Kirby and his friends braced themselves as they scouted the deck for the missing Waddlekin, checking around its massive war cannons and missile batteries. As they continued, things seemed all too quiet until they neared the stern where they overlooked the rocket valves. The rocket valves were glowing, but not with fire as they usually would to promote propulsion. "Well, I think now we can conclude that this ship is not running under normal circumstances!" Tiff said nervously. Then suddenly, a noise came from a pile of crates that was stacked near a large metal door. The party quickly took notice and edged closer to the crates. With lumbering footsteps, four of the missing Waddlekin Scientists emerged from behind the crates and their eyes were widened and blank. They seemed to stare off into nothingness.

"They're bewitched!" Tiff said alarmed. She reached into her backpack and took out her Sage's Staff and transformed, gaining her white robes. With a wave of her wand she doused the scientists with a wave of soothing healing magic and they suddenly came to. Delirious and afraid, they reacted as though they had awoken from a nightmare.

"W-what happened?" one of them said shivering.

"It's okay you're safe now," Adeleine said soothingly. "Ribbon can you teleport them to Sylvanya?"

"Wait, before you do…!" shouted one of the scientists. "I don't know where I got this, or why I am carrying it…, but maybe you might know something about it?" he said handing over a piece of a broken object.

Adeleine took the object and found that it was a piece of a gold coin of some kind. "Eerie, but thank you, we'll hold onto this. You're up Ribbon!" Adeleine finished.

"You got it!" Ribbon said strongly. She chanted her spell and the scientists were transported to the bow of the ship. Ribbon then contacted Sylvanya through telepathy. "Did they make it to you alright?"

"Yes, they are here, bathing in the warm soothing light," Sylvanya responded soothingly. "Their nightmare has come to an end."

As the team finished the minor rescue the metal door creaked open eerily. Hesitantly, Kirby and his friends opened the door and entered into the dark reaches of the Halberd. The team trekked quietly through narrow corridors and catwalk stairs until they heard something coming from a large room up ahead. A sign on the wall directed them to the room, 'The Mess Hall'. As Kirby approached the sound of falling pots and pans could be heard. He let his gaze creep around the corner into the room and found the mess hall to be, for lack of a better word, a mess. With no threat detected Kirby and company entered with caution. Kirby began to inspect the room in more detail to make sure they were safe. He poked around some stray pots and pans on the ground and a sudden noise came from a broken refrigerator. Everyone shot their attention to the refrigerator. "Kirby, did you hear that?" Ribbon whispered softly.

"Poyo, Kirby check…," Kirby whispered back. Kirby tip-toed up to the refrigerator and he listened closely. He heard the lightest of shuffling within it. Ribbon grabbed the handle and Kirby swapped his abilities to the Water ability he copied back at the Mekkai Facility.

The door then suddenly sprung open without Ribbon's help and Kirby was greeted with a hammer swing and a war cry. Kirby just dodged the swing and leaped backwards. The party quickly noticed who the hammer belonged to, "Waddle Dee!" said everyone in unison. He was using his Crusader ability and he was pretty banged up. The refrigerator also held five more Waddlekin Scientists, who in turn tumbled out onto the floor.

Waddle Dee was overcome with relief, "Guys, is it really you and not some horrifying illusion?!" he said as he collapsed.

Tiff immediately doused Waddle Dee with her healing power, "Yeah, it's us, and are we glad to have found you!" Tiff said happily as Kirby helped him to his feet.

Two of the scientists approached the team with worried expressions of fear, "Um, do you guys know anything about this?" one said as both of them handed over two more pieces of the mysterious gold coin.

Adeleine took the both of them and tried fitting them together. "It looks like there's a picture of something on it," she observed.

"We don't know why we had those with us, but you can keep it if you figure out what it's for," said the other scientist.

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out," Ribbon said with encouragement. "In the meantime let me get you guys out of here!" she said as she teleported the five scientists to Sylvanya.

"Good, that's five more," said Sylvanya to Ribbon via telepathy.

"Oh thank goodness!" Waddle Dee said with a great sigh of relief. "I was trying so hard to find the exit! I almost ran out of strength a few times fighting off the evils of this place!"

"Evils, isn't it just a computer virus of some kind?" Ribbon asked curiously.

"Trust me, there's no computer virus here!" Waddle Dee began. "I've been fighting ghosts this whole time, from Mumbies and Skullers, to Horror Tramps and Cool Spooks, you name it! They always pick out the worst times to attack me!"

"Ghosts?" Ribbon thought puzzled. "That's strange those types of ghosts shouldn't have had the power to do what they did to the Mekkai."

"Are you saying that there's something else in here with us?" Tiff asked with worry.

"Oh there's something else here alright…," Waddle Dee interjected. "Can't tell what though, it's very cunning and persistent. Of those types of spirits we've met before, I've met something else that is quite frightening. Whatever they are they look like scrapped Mekkai bots, but the scientists I rescued state that there is now way they can be Mekkai. They say that due to the fact that most electronic portions are no longer even present. The scariest part is that they keep repeating the word, 'Hate' all the time in a deep horrific voice!"

"When we encountered the Mekkai all they said was 'Error', over and over," Adeleine claimed. "In their factory, Mecha Kirby translated the word 'Hate' from binary code that was being engraved into sheets of material on their machines."

"Guys, I think we all need to stick together for this one," Waddle Dee suggested. "No switching people out, go full on 'Raid' mode!"

"You got it, um…, by the way, where is Dedede and Meta Knight?" Ribbon asked with growing concern.

"Meta Knight got separated from us shortly after we left the bridge," Waddle Dee said worriedly. "I haven't seen him since. Dedede however, I just got separated from him not long ago. Last time I seen him, he was headed toward the engine room."

"Then that's where we're going," Ribbon settled with a renewed sense of vigor.

"Just make it outside the Mess Hall and we'll hit the trolleys," Waddle Dee informed. "The trolley system links all areas of the ship all we have to do is board one and it'll take us there."

The team then regrouped and made their way through the mess hall. It was much larger than they anticipated and the undead enemies kept them on their toes. Kirby managed to find two more scientists who after having their senses returned, shared some extra supplies with them. Ribbon then sent them on their way to Sylvanya. "Alright, that makes one fourth of the scientists!" Tiff said cheerfully.

"Good, I think we're making great progress!" Waddle Dee said as he wiped some sweat from his brow. The party then quickly put aside their cheering as they finally made their way out of the desecrated mess hall. They arrived in the bronzed mechanical tunnels that contained a trolley station. "Ah, finally, let's get aboard the trolley and head to the engine room!"

"Good, we don't want to leave Dedede without help for to much longer!" Tiff said worriedly.

Kirby and his party boarded the trolley and Kirby was so enamored by the shiny buttons he could not help but press one at random. An evil mechanical voice came forth, "Error, heading to Cargo Bay…"

Waddle Dee stared Kirby down, "Really, did you just…, with the buttons again?!"

The trolley locked itself down and sped down the rails. Within moments the trolley arrived at the station outside the cargo bay. The trolley opened its door but all computer systems were locking out any users. "I guess we have no choice but to scour the cargo bay," Tiff said nervously.

"I smell an ambush…," Ribbon deduced.

Kirby and his friends cautiously left the station and entered the cargo bay. It was filled with crates upon crates of equipment. The wild structure consisting of damaged stairs and catwalks did not help things either as it turned the bay into a twisted maze. Waddle Dee sighed nervously, "Ugh, this is the part where creepy things hide around corners isn't it?"

"Hmm, I'm not sensing anything, but let's be on our toes regardless!" Ribbon noted.

Kirby navigated the tight cargo bay with his friends close by as they listened closely and paid attention to their surroundings hoping they could avoid being taken by surprise. All seemed quite, but a little too quiet when compared to their previous endeavors, which worried them. Then suddenly, a loud rumble could be heard from the direction they came from and the party froze trying not to make a single noise. Kirby braced himself as another loud rumble came soon after. This caused everyone else to do the same. Then the loud rumble became loud heavy footsteps. In an instant a nasty explosion threw the area into disarray. Kirby and his friends quickly threw off the debris and what they saw was astounding. Tiff's eyes widened in shock, "Heavy Lobster, but how can that be?!"

Heavy Lobster was vastly different from their encounter on the first Halberd. Its body was colored a deep red and it was constructed from scrap parts that were harvested from the ship itself, space junk and even some Mekkai robots. Its massive claws resembled back hoes and its body parts were connected with electromagnetism as opposed to being a completely assembled machine. It had exhaust pipes, six of each side of its body instead of the wings it had before. The most shocking thing was the two knights who rode atop the claws. It was Axe Knight and Mace Knight. They seemed overcome by the presence aboard the ship and they were not themselves. "Crush, Kill, Exterminate, Exterminate!" said Mace and Axe simultaneously.

"HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE…!" roared Heavy Lobster.

"You guys, we can't fight in these closed quarters like this!" Ribbon claimed. "Quickly, run deeper into the cargo bay maybe we can find a way out!"

Instead of fighting back, Kirby and his friends retreated into the maze-like cargo bay. Heavy Lobster lumbered forth as it gave chase to the party. As the party quickly made their way through the maze, they heard voices coming from captured Waddlekin. "Ack, you guys there are more scientists around!" Waddle Dee alerted.

"Everyone keep eyes and ears open!" Ribbon commanded.

"Gotcha, hey I found one!" Tiff said as she saw a Waddle Doo hanging by a cable.

Tiff freed her and she quickly noticed Heavy Lobster, "What the heck, get me outta here!"

Ribbon transported her out just in time as Heavy Lobster caught up to the party. "Run!" Ribbon shouted.

The party managed to stay ahead of Heavy Lobster erstwhile finding more and more scientists who were trapped. After coming to, they each had something to say, "Great Goddess Palutena!" shouted another female scientist.

"W-what in the wild world?!" said a male scientist.

"I can't stand seafood!" said another.

Kirby and his friends managed to save another eleven scientists until the party came to the end of the ship where Heavy Lobster cornered them. "Well, you know what they say about a cornered Squeak!" Tiff said as she clicked her tongue and equipped her Mystic Broadsword.

"Ha, I can go all out now that I know all the scientists are out of the bay!" Waddle Dee said as he banged his mace and hammer together.

"Alright, it's time for a counter attack!" Adeleine said bravely as she transformed into her Ice Dragon form.

Axe Knight and Mace Knight leaped from their positions to face the party. Waddle Dee took on Mace Knight while Tiff took on Axe Knight. Kirby transformed into Crazy Cog Kirby and attacked Heavy Lobster with Adeleine at his side. Adeleine blasted Heavy Lobster with ice cold breath and ice blocks while Kirby smacked into the machine with the invulnerable strength of his new ability. Heavy Lobster was not without its own weapons. It attempted to blast its targets with red hot flames and welding torches. When they got to close it would swipe with its massive metal claws.

Waves of crimson colored energy emitted from the clashing of Axe Knights mighty ax and Tiff's broadsword. They traded powerful blows and found themselves evenly matched until that is, Tiff started using her sword with both hands. Waddle Dee was faring just as well. Mace Knight's weapon only seemed to collide with his Crusader's shield allowing him to counter with strikes from his own mace and hammer. Waddle Dee then taunted Mace Knight by tapping his hammer lightly on the ground, "COME ON, I EXPECT MORE FROM A META-KNIGHT!" he shouted strongly.

Tiff followed, "YEAH, ARE YOU GUYS SO OUTTA SHAPE YOU'D LET A COUPLE OF KIDS THROW YOU AROUND?!"

This caused the two knights to fall into a whole new world of anger as well as whole new level of power. They responded at the same time, "YOU WANT MORE?! YOU SHALL HAVE IT!"

"Kirby, I managed to freeze Heavy Lobster!" Adeleine shouted. "Now, hit it really, really HARD!"

Heavy Lobster was shaking the ice off very slowly as Kirby sped down all the way back to the beginning of the cargo bay. He stopped, turned around and began to rev up his cog form with extreme horse power. So much so, he bathed the area in sparks and turned red hot. Within a split second Kirby let loose and before Heavy Lobster could free itself from the ice, Kirby struck so hard that its entire left claw shattered into thousands of pieces. Kirby stood with a confident cheer as did Adeleine, "That's the way to do it Kirby!" she cheered with a dance.

Tiff and Waddle Dee collided in midair as they realized their taunt struck a nerve with their opponents. "Oww, okay, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to make them even madder!" Waddle Dee said with a tad bit of regret.

Tiff spit a little blood from her mouth, "Yeah, I wonder if they…, are jealous of us in some way?"

"Oh, what gave you that idea?" he snarkily asked.

"The fact that all of us were trained by Meta Knight might have something to do with it!" Tiff exclaimed.

"So wait, you don't think that they think we are some kind of…, 'replacements' for them do you?" Waddle Dee elaborated.

"Maybe so, maybe they think Meta Knight replaced them with us…," Tiff explained further.

"That's crazy, I doubt Meta Knight would treat his men that way!" Waddle Dee said with doubt.

"I know th-, whoa here they come!" Tiff warned with an interruption.

"What…, WHOA!" Waddle Dee shouted as he was brought out of his daydream with a front flip over Mace Knight's swing.

Kirby and Adeleine managed to freeze and destroy Heavy Lobsters other claw and in a rage its main body opened up to reveal rows of jagged metal that resembled teeth alongside a powerful heat cannon. "Aw crud…," Adeleine said despondently. It jumped up and down wildly and released waves of electrical energy with each landing.

Ribbon bit her thumbnail while she thought hard, _"This battle is turnout out badly. Tiff and Waddle Dee are already auto-regenerating their health while the knights don't seem hindered at all. Heavy Lobster is now a raving machine that only Kirby can get close to. As for Adeleine…, wait that's it!"_ she thought with inspiration. "Adeleine don't forget about your Master Green transformation, it can absorb the electricity!"

"Gotcha, but I want to try something else first!" Adeleine said making a change to Ribbon's advice. Adeleine reverted back to her human form and found a safe place to take her paint brush out of her bag. She lifted it up high, "Paint Attack!" she announced.

The cargo bay was engulfed in a sea of rainbow colored elementally charge paints. When it subsided, Heavy Lobster and the knights were doused with blinding paint. Heavy Lobster was painted its original yellowish color as it moved wildly unable to see while the Axe Knight was painted blue and Mace Knight painted green. "Yes, it worked!" Adeleine shouted happily. Without the ability to see Kirby's party quickly overtook them. With one final attack from Kirby's fully charged Crazy Cog was all that was needed to shatter Heavy Lobster into an unsalvageable mess. Meanwhile Tiff and Waddle Dee used a 'Holy Sword Beam' and 'Smite' respectively to knockout their opponents. Ribbon took the opportunity to check on them. They were battered but otherwise, released from the supernatural force that bound them. "Hang on guys, I'm transporting you to Sylvanya. Axe Knight and Mace Knight were enveloped in light and they wearily teleported to safety.

Just as Ribbon finished, Sylvanya contacted her in her mind, "Ribbon, I thank you for finding the two knights, nevertheless, we have a new problem. A Combo Cannon has appeared on deck, and it looks like Sailor Dee is operating it. There are also two missile batteries, one on each side of the cannon that are operated by Trident Knight and Javelin Knight. They've taken hold in front of the bridge and… are aiming straight for me. I hastily request your presence!"

"Okay guys, back to the Argent Lady, double time!" Ribbon shouted.

"All right time for the Warp Star!" Tiff summoned.

The Warp Star came down to the party's aid and they boarded with haste. With some flashy maneuvers the Warp Star navigated the wreckage as it flew upwards and then broke the ceiling revealing the Argent Lady nearby. Sailor Dee's Combo Cannon shot a powerful blast that struck the Warp Star as it reached the peak height of its last maneuver. Luckily, Kirby and his party were unharmed as they leaped within seconds before Sailor Dee's attack. The party laded on deck and began regrouping. "Ahh, thank Palutena you've made it back so soon," Sylvanya said with relief. "Kirby, Sailor Dee and the other two knights have stationed the new Combo Cannon, now twisted into a Geist Cannon, in front of the bridge. They are in fact afflicted with the same hatred as the last two knights. You need to find a way to navigate the bow to even get close enough to attack. Admiral Doo informs me that this deck is like a maze thanks to all the turrets on board. He also says that eight more scientists have appeared on deck."

"Kirby, look!" Ribbon said as she pointed to a large stack of metal ammunition crates. "Those should give you your Metal ability. The huge defense given should be enough to block Sailor Dee's attacks!"

"It also looks like a ton of Wheelie Bikes are on the loose too!" Waddle Dee noticed. "Dedede must have done something in the engine room!"

"Kirby, the Wheel ability can reach Sailor Dee, but you have to make sure he doesn't hit you!" Tiff instructed. "Thankfully, there seems to be a lot of potential items to combine Wheel with here, and you've already got Crazy Cog with you!"

"Kirby, the Geist Cannon can be destroyed with three hard hits, just make sure you boost before you strike to make the hit count!" Sylvanya instructed.

Kirby transformed back into Crazy Cog form and Waddle Dee hoped aboard a Wheelie Bike, "Hey Adeleine, up for a ride? Just grab a Wheelie Bike with me and we'll rescue the scientists out there! Ribbon, Tiff, think you can assist Sylvanya, by keeping the undead off her? Sailor Dee is an expert among experts when it comes to marksmanship! He can even shoot down something as small as Air Riders with the Combo Cannon's main weapon, so stay on guard!"

"Right, I'll do whatever it takes!" Tiff said brandishing her broadsword bravely.

"Ready Adeleine?" Waddle Dee asked.

Adeleine painted her face with inspiration, "I'll do you one better Waddle Dee! I'll just transform into a Grand Wheelie!" she said as she transformed. She became the mechanical monster with bronzed plating and smoke stacks.

"NIIICE! That's even better!" Waddle Dee praised. "All right, let's go!"

With that, Kirby took off and began making his way across the deck. Waddle Dee and Grand Wheelie Adeleine assisted to rescue the scientists.

Ribbon instructed the party further, "Make sure you stay low Kirby, nothing flashy, if Sailor Dee's as good a marksman as Waddle Dee claims, then he'll shoot you if you give him a clear shot! I don't care how good a marksman he is if he doesn't have anything to aim at he can't hit you! So try to stay out of the air or you'll be knocked back!"

"Poyo, right!" Kirby responded as he rebounded off a corner and turned that harsh corner. Kirby tore through a small mini turret causing it to explode upon impact. The explosion forced Kirby into the air. Sailor Dee took the shot but missed by a hair. The missed shot destroyed a large sized cannon behind him. "Poyo, too close!" Kirby shouted as he began to avoid things that explode. He continued down narrow corridors and drifting around sharp corners until he made it to a flight of stairs. He was at the base of the Geist Cannon. Sailor Dee quickly took notice and began changing the main cannon's position to shoot Kirby. Luckily, he was not fast enough as Kirby boosted his ability and with a devastating take off, he slammed hard into the Geist Cannon. The following explosion was enough to jettison Kirby all the way back to Sylvanya. He landed unharmed as he regained control.

Kirby took off again and found that Sailor Dee had placed metal barriers up with a control switch changing direction of the course. As he continued with some skillful drifting and rebounding, Kirby made it to another flight of stairs, but this time he had arrived at Trident Knight's missile battery. He had taken a wrong turn, but this was still fortunate. Taking down Trident Knight would relieve pressure on Adeleine and Waddle Dee. Kirby boosted and slammed into the missile battery, destroying it. The following explosion was enough to propel Kirby back onto the deck while the unconscious Trident Knight was thrown nearby Sylvanya. Sylvanya took the opportunity to secure Trident Knight. This turned out to be a poor choice as Sailor Dee retaliated with a precise shot that struck her, Tiff and Ribbon. Tiff lost her broadsword and Ribbon was thrown to the deck floor. Sylvanya was heavily damaged as she began her healing prayers. "Bless you Sailor Dee, may you be free of this evil! Using your own teammate to get a clear shot at me," Sylvanya said as she prayed.

Ribbon managed to pick herself back up and heal both herself and Tiff. "Wow, he really is a good shot!" Ribbon complimented reluctantly.

"Yeah, and he's an opportunist too!" Tiff gnashed her teeth as she equipped her Sage's Staff. Tiff and Ribbon managed to pick themselves up before another wave of Mumbies and mechanical creatures came to greet them. Their healing spells made quick work of the undead, but the machines proved hardier.

Meanwhile, Kirby finally made his way back to Sailor Dee who was ready for him. Kirby boosted his ability as Sailor Dee charged his cannon's laser. Sailor Dee unleashed his attack at exactly the same moment that Kirby took off causing the two forces to collide. The two gridlocked each other until Kirby gave another push with a shout. Kirby outperformed Sailor Dee's attack and slammed into the Geist Cannon. As before, he was sent flying. He landed before Sylvanya and the others. "Great work Kirby, one more time ought to do it!" Ribbon cheered as Kirby took off again.

Kirby found that Sailor Dee had changed the deck even further this time around. Vents in the deck floor could lift Kirby up with steam making him a target as well as other traps that would do the same. Strangely, the new set of metal barricades guided Kirby to Javelin Knight's missile battery. He boosted and charged with incredible force. Kirby was thrown back onto the deck while Javelin Knight's mechanical body was thrown back to Sylvanya. He sputtered the word, 'Error' before he shut down. Trident Knight crawled over to his mechanical friend. "Oh Javelin, it will be over soon!" he spoke weakly. As Trident attempted to pull what was left of Javelin to safety, Sailor Dee fired a shot directly at the two. However, Tiff leaped in front of the blast with her Reflect Force active. After it subsided, Tiff was damaged and her Sage ability was lost, but everyone was okay.

Waddle Dee and Adeleine returned each with four scientists. "Look, we found them all!" Waddle Dee stated.

"Yeah, all that's left is for Kirby to deliver the last attack!" Adeleine claimed with a cheer.

The party then heard the sound of Kirby boosting his ability. "Which is about to happen as a matter of fact!" Ribbon added.

Sailor Dee's Geist Cannon supernaturally transformed like molding clay, gaining four barrels instead of one. Making it a pepperbox barrel, he took aim at Kirby. "I'm gonna blast you to PIECES!" threatened Sailor Dee. With a massive collision of power Crazy Cog Kirby and the Geist Cannon fought for dominance. With a sudden surge of power, Kirby lost the struggle and got blasted all the way back to his friend's location. Kirby transformed back into his normal state, "Poyo, too strong, need stronger copy!"

"Great, now what?" Waddle Dee said despondently.

"We better think of something quick, or we're dead meat!" Tiff said nervously.

"Hey guys, what's that strange light over there?" Ribbon asked as her eye caught something. A strange looking Wheelie Bike emerged from below deck, it gleamed with rainbow colored light as it wandered aimlessly, looking for a way off the ship. Kirby, intrigued by the strange more advanced looking creature decided to engage it.

"Kirby, I don't know what that is, but suck it up!" Tiff commanded strongly.

Kirby wasted no time in inhaling the wheelie. After doing so, something strange began to occur. Kirby's body also gave off the rainbow colored aura as he transformed. He gained a black bikers helmet with star prints on the sides and a black visor over his eyes, "Monster Wheel Kirby! Super Ability, Go, Go, Go!"

"Super ability, what's a Super ability, is that like Compound abilities?" Waddle Dee asked hoping for an answer.

"Well, let's wait and see…," Tiff said astonished.

Kirby activated his new power and he began to grow into a large wheel, a very large wheel. He became so large and covered in treads that he was big enough to take up both starboard and port sides of the ship. "Incredible!" Adeleine claimed as she gazed in awe at what Kirby had become. Kirby began rolling down the deck after Sailor Dee with a shout. Anything he ran over was flattened as if made of aluminum soda cans. Explosions were completely ineffective against this new ability. Even Sailor Dee's laser's bounced off harmlessly. Within a few moments, Kirby had made it to Sailor Dee.

"Noooo, NOOOOO!" shouted Sailor Dee as he was comically flattened along with his Geist Cannon. As quickly as it happened, Kirby reverted back to normal but without the Monster Wheel ability.

Kirby slumped to the ground with a sigh of relief, "Poyo, no more, all gone…," he said. Kirby approached Sailor Dee and he puffed back up again regaining his original body shape. Kirby then took his unconscious body back to Sylvanya.

Everyone regrouped as the saved scientists shared their access supplies with Kirby's party and Meta Knight's crew apologized for their actions. Adeleine now had five pieces of the mysterious gold coin and Tiff got back her Sage and Mystic Knight equipment. "I'm so sorry for this we just wanted to give Meta Knight a new ship!" Axe Knight sobbed.

"How did it end up like this?" Mace Knight added along with Axe.

"Truly a horrific experience, I hope Meta Knight will forgive us!" Trident Knight continued as he worked on Javelin Knight's repairs.

Sailor Dee approached Kirby and his party, "I thank you deeply for your help," he started. "I was with Vul on the bridge when the accident occurred. We were transported into space, to what looked like a field of space junk. I don't remember much after that. If you want to find the others, they shouldn't be to far off. Oh, and one more thing, there's a secret room somewhere in the engine room. Some extra supplies are store there, so feel free to help yourself if you find it. I'm going to go with the others back to Admiral Doo's ship and rest awhile. I have a splitting headache…"

With that, Sylvanya transported them and the saved scientists back to Admiral Doo's War Blimp. "All right Kirby, were almost done there should only be fourteen scientists left, Captain Vul, Dedede and Meta Knight," Sylvanya calculated strategically. "Then we can let General Dee blow this ship out of the sky!"

"So the General plans to blow it up?" Waddle Dee asked with surprise.

"Yes, he's already stationed the War Train on the mountain side and will fire its cannon as soon as everyone has been freed!" Sylvanya explained.

"Well, we better get moving!" Tiff urged.

"To the Engine Room, I hope Dedede's okay!" Ribbon said hopefully.

With that, Kirby and his party hastily continued their perilous trek across the Halberd. Upon reaching the bridge, they noticed the damage Kirby had done, "Wow Kirby, that Monster Wheel ability of yours nearly split the ship in half!" Adeleine said as she looked down into the fissure. It barely held together.

"I think it's safe to say that the trolley system no longer works now," Waddle Dee deduced. "Anyway, it looks like we can just climb down this fissure and make it to the engine room faster that way."

"All right, who's all for going into the scary hole of twisted metal?" Tiff asked with a comical smile.

Everyone raised their hand in approval and the party made their way down. Kirby managed to copy Yo-yo on the way down as well as free four more scientists. After a careful descent, the party reached a large steel door that ad a sign above it that read, 'Engine'. Something was off however; it was covered with frost as was the area surrounding the door. "Hey, why's the door got frost all over it?" Ribbon asked with concern.

Sylvanya chimed in with telepathy, "Ribbon, Admiral Doo has informed me that the ships rocket valves are all frozen on the outside! Be careful!"

"You think Dedede might have something to do with that?" Adeleine asked curiously.

"Not sure, but I guess we'll find out as soon as we open that door…," Waddle Dee said nervously.

*End of Chapter*


	3. Engine Trouble!

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Haunted Halberd

By: ChronoWeapon

Chapter 3: Engine Trouble!

"Kirby this door is frozen solid…," Adeleine said with a pause. "The metal should be brittle, so we can probably just smash it open!"

"Poyo, break down door!" Kirby said as he transformed into his Crazy Cog form and began storing energy. With a loud crash, Kirby smashed the frozen metal door and the party entered with a roar expecting an immediate counter measure as a response. Only, once the party entered they received no resistance. The party calmed as they took in their surroundings. The engine room was easily one of the largest rooms they entered thus far and it was entirely covered in frost as if it were a freezer that was used to store frozen foods. The massive pistons did not as much as budge and icicles hung from the ceiling and catwalks. The party's major concern here now however, was to find King Dedede.

"This is definitely Dedede's doing, but where is he?" Tiff mused as she looked over the complex.

"We should look around there could be scientists in here as well!" Waddle Dee said as he approached a block of ice. Waddle Dee then got a better look at the said ice cube and noticed a Waddle Doo was frozen within. "Guys, look a scientist is frozen in the ice!"

"Hurry, we should get him out!" Adeleine urged with haste.

Waddle Dee took his crusader hammer and lightly tapped the ice block which then proceeded to split carefully. The scientist fell out of his tomb and sprung to life as if he was awoken from a nightmare. He was understandably disoriented as he shivered. "Wha-, what happened?" he mumbled.

"Don't fret your safe now!" Ribbon chimed with a calm smile.

"Oh, thank goodness," he said with relief. "However, there are more of us here in this room. You must be quick to save them…, or else they'll-!" he said as he was stopped by Ribbon.

"Don't worry, we're on it!" Ribbon said reassuringly. "For now though, you should return to the Argent Lady," she finished as she chanted. With a bright flash of light Ribbon transported the Waddle Doo away to safety. "There, that should do it!"

"Okay, um…, Ribbon you should have asked him if had seen Dedede…," Adeleine claimed.

Ribbon then face palmed, "Rats, your right!"

"Either way we need to hurry," Waddle Dee prodded, wanting to save his people.

The party agreed and followed Kirby's lead. The catwalk they were on was a tad slippery but it eventually lead them to a fork. A set of stairs, took them below the engines into the maintenance area while the other path kept them on their current level. Kirby decided that Waddle Dee and Tiff would go below and Adeleine stay with Ribbon and himself. Waddle Dee stuck with his Crusader ability and Tiff with her Sage ability as they descended into the dark cold maintenance area below. Kirby stored away Crazy Cog and Adeleine became Dullaheat to ward off the chill. Waddle Dee gripped his weapons tightly as he navigated the dark halls that were filled with frozen pipelines and power cables. Then suddenly, a small feint red glow appeared in their line of sight. "Hate…, hate…, hate…," sounded a feint echo.

Tiff stuck close to Waddle Dee, "Here we go Waddle Dee," she said quietly.

"Bring it on…," Waddle Dee said softly as the two inched their way through the hall ready for a strike. As they came closer however, the light took off away from them. Any noise it made also faded out as well. The frost crunched beneath their feet as their search continued. A small room came within sight. There was no door to impede them and they entered cautiously. It was a small storage room with ice cubes haphazardly stacked around. "Let's get to work Tiff!" Waddle Dee suggested.

"You got it!" Tiff replied with confidence. The two began tapping the ice blocks open and mostly found nothing until that is, Waddle Dee chose a peculiar block. Once cracked open a Mumbee emerged and tackled Waddle Dee. "I got your back Waddle Dee!" said Tiff as she cast her healing magic on the undead creature, destroying it.

"Thanks Tiff, note to self, be aware of enemies that are also frozen!" Waddle Dee thought out loud.

"No problem Waddle Dee!" Tiff replied. "It looks like we'll have to search all of these little maintenance rooms and shafts if we want to find everyone."

"Yeah, we have to be thorough and aware of stalkers down here," Waddle Dee realized. "Good thing I have a massive shield on my back!"

"No kidding, I wonder how Kirby and the others are doing?" Tiff wondered out loud.

Meanwhile, Kirby, Adeleine and Ribbon navigated the winding catwalks that weaved in between the Halberd's engine. Many small undead foes gave them some resistance as well as weakened areas of the catwalks that would fall if stepped on. Once the party made it to what seemed like the center of the room pipelines leading to a boiler came to life with a roaring burst of steam. Slowly but surely, the engine room was waking up as the sound of ice breaking could be heard. "We better hurry and find Dedede, I got a bad feeling about this," Ribbon said worriedly.

The party agreed and continued onward. Now since the engine was running albeit slowly, pistons would block their path or threaten to smash them. The scaffolding was being pushed aside, falling to the maintenance halls below. This indicated that the engine was not yet meant to run as the scaffolding was not meant to be there when the ship was fully operational. Eventually, Kirby's party came to a circular opening that was surrounded by control panels and was overlooked by a control room above. Kirby looked up and caught his eye on something he wished he had not. A large block of ice was held by a crane and Kirby could make out Dedede's horrified expression within. "Dedede, poyo!" Kirby shouted.

Adeleine and Ribbon looked up to where Kirby was pointing. "He's right, it is Dedede!" Adeleine added.

"Can we get him down from there?" Ribbon asked quizzically. "That crane looks like it has quite a hold on him!"

"Hang on, I got this!" Adeleine claimed as she swung her red hot sword. She unleashed a fiery sword beam that struck the crane's 'hand' and the extreme heat cracked the ice block. It fell to the ground and Dedede emerged dazed and confused with his Icerock Scepter and Orichalcum Mask resting on top of his head as opposed to covering his face.

"Ugh, where am I?" Dedede stammered as his eyes rolled comically. He shook his head back and forth and regained his bearings. He blinked a few times and realized Kirby was standing in front of him. "Wha-, Kirby how'd you get here so fast?" he asked with astonishment.

"Dedede just how long were you trapped in that ice?" Ribbon asked quizzically.

"Ice…, oh that's right, I got knocked out while dealing with the spooks in this place!" Dedede said rubbing his head.

"How'd that happen?" Adeleine asked curiously. "And, what has been going on here, and further more where'd Meta Knight get to?"

"Well, when we boarded everything seemed spooky from the get go!" Dedede began as he brushed the ice off his robes. "Nothing happened at first, which made it even more eerie. We first headed to the bridge. Meta Knight said he wanted to check the main computer's data base for clues. Seemed like a reasonable place to start. Once we got inside the ship the undead woke up and started attacking us every step of the way! Sheesh, I ain't never gonna get used to fighting undead things! When we reached the bridge, Meta Knight took a moment to get some data from the ship's travel log. It didn't take long though before he got a little unnerved."

"Unnerved, how did something get under Meta Knight's skin?" Ribbon asked puzzled.

"Don't know really, Meta Knight collected the travel log and then rushed out the door," Dedede explained further. "After that we got separated and Waddle Dee and I looked around to see if we couldn't find the scientists. Then we got separated. I got the chills and decided to head here to the engine room to shut it down. I was hoping that if I shut down the engine I could get the ship to land!"

"So what happened? Why all the ice?" Adeleine asked.

"Well, when I got here," Dedede began as he shivered slightly. "The engine was working at really low power, and it was hot, like a pressure cooker or something. I couldn't touch any of the valves on the account that they were so hot. So I used my Titan Fist weapon to shut down the main valves. Then that summoned a whole heap of undead. Strangest thing was, they was coming from the inside of the engine itself. So I decided to freeze the place shut! I took my Icerock Scepter and cursed the boiler, sprinkler systems and air vents! It was like winter time in here in no time. I was feeling mighty fine once the undead quit coming and then…, 'whack' I got hit in the back of the head and now here I am!"

"A sneak attack?' Ribbon asked rhetorically. "Then that explains why you froze into an ice cube, but who lifted you into the air-!" she was cut off by a sudden gate closing them in.

"I guess we're about to find out!" Adeleine said as she readied herself.

"Caw, caw, caw!" came forth a maniacal laughter from the engine control room. "Here you shall all meet…, your DOOM!" said the voice with a growl of hatred. It was none other than Captain Vul, second in command of Meta Knight's crew just below Meta Knight himself. His eyes burned with the same hatred as his subordinates before him. With a loud roar then engine poured out waves of undead creatures, including Mumbies, Skullers as well as many others.

Dedede flipped his mask back over his face, "Here we go again!" he shivered slightly.

Waddle Dee and Tiff managed to find eight more scientists which shared their supplies and gave up the final two pieces of the coin. The scientists were loosing their cool at the fact the engine was moving. "No, no, no, the engine's not ready to launch yet let alone head to full power, there's no proper lubricant within it! Without oil the massive amount of heat generated by the friction will turn the engine's insides into gravel!" explained a Waddle Dee scientist.

"Not to mention, the massive heat generated will cook us alive!" said a Waddle Doo scientist.

"So what do we do?" Tiff asked hurriedly.

"The engine control room has the controls to disable the engine obviously, but we're to far below to do anything about that," explained another scientist.

"True, but we are in the maintenance halls, perhaps we can impede the engines strength by disabling a few of its key components!" theorized another.

"All right then just tell us what we need to do!" Waddle Dee said readying himself.

"Hmm, if I remember our design well enough, around this corner should be a node that controls electrical flow from the reactor room. Unplugging it should starve the engine of its power!" explained one of the scientists.

"Let's do it!" Tiff said as the party took off. Sure enough the scientist was correct. A large shaft of wires existed in a small room. "Is this it, how do we cut the power? We can't even touch it, its crawling with electricity!" Tiff deduced.

"Like this!" Waddle Dee said as he took up his Gadgeteer ability and placed the laser visor over his eye. With one swift motion, Waddle Dee's laser cut through the braid of cables and the ship moaned with a shake at the violent disconnection.

A scientist snarked, "Not the way I was hoping for, but that is sufficient."

However, it was not long before the engine recovered. "Drat," cursed one of the scientists. "We placed many redundant systems on this ship so it would keep going in times of battle!"

"Let's keep going we can't afford to stop now!" Tiff shouted with urgency.

Back up top Captain Vul threw waves of undead creatures and loaded Mekkai Stalkers, using the crane, to attack Kirby's party. "We can't keep this up forever, how do we stop Vul?" Dedede asked irately.

"It's getting really hot in here…, wait, that's it!" Ribbon said struck with inspiration as she stared at the control center. "Guys, attack the windows of the control center! The quick change in temperature made them crack a little!" she instructed confidently.

"Wow, your right Ribbon!" Adeleine said as she changed her form from Dullaheat into Gao Gao.

"I got just the thing!" Dedede said equipping his Blatzy Cannon.

Kirby swapped in his Water ability that he had been saving from the Mekkai Factory. Kirby used his water geysers to lift enemies helplessly into the air where Adeleine would grab and subsequently throw them into the control room's protective windows. Dedede simply shot volley after volley of blatzy fire at them while also shooting down stragglers. The protective glass quickly began to crack and give way while Vul protested.

"BZZZ!" sounded another cable as Waddle Dee cut it loose.

Another power drain stalled the engine. "Good, I think one more cluster will suffice!" said one of the scientists.

"Good because it's starting to get really hot down here!" Tiff said as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

The sound of glass shattering could be heard as Kirby's team broke through. "Now, Kirby, get Vul!" Ribbon commanded urgently.

Kirby flew up to the window, but before he could enter Vul hit him with a surprise attack with a bomb launcher. "Think again whelp!" Vul growled. Kirby was knocked back down, losing his water ability. He was slightly disoriented but managed to shake it off. As another form of retaliation, Vul hit a big red switch and steel plates closed over the now broken windows.

Dedede moaned, "Aw, that ain't fair!"

"There's gotta be a way!" Adeleine growled.

"Just keep hitting it until breaks!" Ribbon instructed. "It may be metal, but it's still pretty thin!"

As more enemies arrived on the scene, Kirby took a careful look at many of them and found one that interested him. Turning his sights to a Mekkai Hulk, Kirby began his Super Inhale technique. "Are you up to something, Kirby?" Dedede asked quizzically. "All right, we'll cover ya!"

The party covered Kirby from attackers as his super inhale picked up power and the Mekkai Hulk along with a few other enemies were inhaled. Kirby then began to transform into Bomb Kirby. "Explosions open any door!" Kirby said triumphantly. He quickly suppressed the ability and turned his sights to another enemy; a Fiery Skuller. Kirby's team agreed with a silent nod and covered Kirby while he inhaled the Skuller and transformed into Fire Kirby. Kirby then, suppressed it and began to make a new compound ability. He now wore a red, orange, yellow, and black color themed party hat with a flaming sparkler tail at the top and a gold crown with an emerald jewel set in the center. The party hat's designs looked like moving fire even though it was just an optical illusion. Kirby's skin was also now red as well. "Fireworks Kirby!" he shouted strongly. "Pretty, but very deadly!" he finished. Kirby rushed towards Captain Vul's position and he propelled himself into the air with a massive yet gorgeous explosion of varying colors that lit all enemies on fire that were within range.

"Wow, that ability has some firepower!" Dedede complimented.

"I'm a little jealous its colors are prettier than some of my paints!" Adeleine followed.

"Look, the metal barriers are starting to melt away!" Ribbon pointed out. "Keep at it!"

Kirby and his party quickly gained the upper hand and with a final quake, the metal barriers were completely broken down. The control panels exploded in Vul's face disabling him and jettisoned him from the room and in front of Kirby's party. He was knocked senseless. The large engine died immediately and it began to slow down until it finally came to a halt completely. Captain Vul wearily pushed himself up until he sat upright. "Ohh, my head," he said as his eyes rolled in his head. "Did someone get the number of that Warp Star?" he asked rhetorically.

Everyone giggled in relief as Vul regained his composure. Ribbon flew gently up to him with a question on her mind. "Hey Vul, I know you aren't in the best of shape, but can I ask what happened here exactly?" she started. "Don't worry my Soothe spell can patch you up while we listen!" Ribbon stated as she placed her hands parallel to each other and bathed Vul in a gentle white light.

The cool refreshing sensation touched Vul's feathers and he began to feel better. "Ah, thank you I'm feeling better already," Vul said as he rose to his feet. "Ahem, to answer your question, it all first began with the blueprints for this ship. I'm sure you know by now this ship was made entirely from Holy Nightmare's technology. Well we wanted to honor Lord Meta Knight's exploits here on Pop Star by making him a new ship. The Waddlekin of Cloud Sea City had the resources to construct another although it was rather costly. The Mekkai helped tremendously."

"Question!" Dedede blurted out as he raised his hand. "How did duplicating the ship make it evil?"

"Ah, that's just it," Vul began turning his gaze to Dedede. "We didn't completely use…, 'new' parts, you see. Before we came to this world we stopped by on a nearby planet that was within range of Holy Nightmare's main complex. Some debris fell to this barren planet after Kirby defeated Nightmare and destroyed his base and we salvaged parts from it to create the Halberd 2; the ship where we first met. Aboard the Halberd 2 was some computer equipment we left in the Waddlekin's hands when we were outfitting the ship to head to Dark Star. Among those parts existed a hard drive, a memory core, a mother board, you get the idea. All spares of course. These spare parts were also from our first salvage, just never implemented in the Halberd 2. The Galaxy Military already had great computer systems we could use. So we kept the salvaged parts on hand for study. The Waddlekin here however, didn't have the necessary technology to create a viable computer system for a star ship. The Mekkai suggested using our spares and that they would scrub them for erroneous bugs."

"That's how this whole thing occurred?" Adeleine asked rhetorically. "Where did you guys end up after the ship vanished?"

"Uh, we ended up in a richly horrible place," Vul began as he went sort of pale. "The coordinates on the travel log had stated that we were sent to the debris field of…, Holy Nightmare Enterprises… It was a terrible place. A graveyard in space, nothing but debris composed of space junk. We drove around for a little while, while the Mekkai prowled the ship spouting off error messages. They were running wild, completely unable to control themselves. Then a dark force loomed over the ship. It must have reacted to our presence. It quickly seized control as it tore the Mekkai bots limb from limb and reassembled them into masses of twisted metal. These masses should not work under normal circumstances and we deduced that they were indeed no longer even machines. What took their place were puppets to put a voice to whatever force Nightmare left behind in the debris field. They spouted the word 'Hate' over and over. At the time we didn't know who the hate was projected on, but now I can tell that it was…, you Kirby… After the door to the bridge was breached we…, blacked out. After that, well, here I am…" he finished with unease.

"Hey guys!" called out Waddle Dee as both he and Tiff came running up to the party with the scientists in tow.

"We managed to find everyone here!" Tiff said cheerfully.

"Thank goodness!" Ribbon said with relief.

As the party regrouped, Waddle Dee and Tiff were filled in on Vul's information. The scientists shared some of their supplies and Vul was ready to leave the ship. "I thank you for all your help," Vul stated as he wiped his brow.

"Where would we find Meta Knight?" Tiff asked concerned.

"There's only one place Meta Knight could be as of now…, the Reactor Core…," Vul said confidently. "But you'll need to go through the Communication Center first to get there."

"Thanks Vul, alright everyone ready to evacuate?" Ribbon asked readying everyone.

With a brave shout in agreement, the scientists and Captain Vul were all transported to safety. The Argent Lady contacted them, "What relief, you guys are doing great! Only a few more steps and we'll bring this tug boat down!"

Kirby's party welcomed Dedede back and pooled their supplies together, with Adeleine completing the strange medal. The medal mysteriously assembled itself with no cracks left in it as it floated before them. It had an imprint of a ghost on it. A strange ghostly voice emerged from the air. "Ha…, ha…, ha…, congratulations, you assembled the Ghost Medal. If you want the prize come and see me! Then again…, now that the medal is complete, meeting me is…, inevitable," the spirit cackled eerily.

"Well, that was fun…," Waddle Dee said sarcastically.

Kirby then remembered Sailor Dee's words in that there was a secret room hidden within the engine room. The party decided to look for the hidden room believing the owner of the disembodied voice would be hiding within. Kirby led his party up to the engine control room and with some careful inspection a keypad on the furthest wall demanded a code of four numbers. A small screen above the keypad asked the party supernatural questions about their time onboard the Halberd. Answering correctly gave Kirby a number to punch in. After all four numbers were punched in and a hidden door opened. A small creepy hallway past this door led to another door. Upon reaching this door it opened up and led the party into a small square room with loads of treasure in the form of spare parts made with rare jewels. Kirby expected the ghost to pop out at them but strangely the room was void of the chaos that permeated the rest of the ship. After loading up on the valuables Kirby and his party left the room and began heading towards the exit.

As Kirby and his party left the Engine Room, Tiff called the Warp Star and the party boarded. Moving quickly through the mangled ghost ship, the party emerged on the deck safe and sound. As everyone regrouped, Ribbon was contacted by Sylvanya, "Ribbon, Captain Vul states that the Communications Center can be accessed by an elevator located in the bridge!"

"Guys, Sylvanya told me that Captain Vul says we can get to the Communication Center through and elevator on the bridge, let's hurry!" Ribbon instructed intricately.

*Bridge*

Kirby's party quickly made their way back to the bridge and noticed that on their way the resistance was growing in number. Shutting the door behind them, they began searching the bridge for the elevator. Kirby found another red switch on the westernmost wall and a metal door opened. He cheered with excitement at his hasty accomplishment. "Way to go Kirby!" Tiff followed with a cheer of her own. Everyone boarded the elevator and the door shut them inside. It descended quite rapidly.

"Ugh, these things always make me a tad nauseous!" Dedede said wearily.

"It's the take off that always gets me…," added Waddle Dee with his eyes spinning.

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened. Kirby's team cautiously exited the elevator and found themselves in a very dark room that was only lit by little blinking lights and computer screens. The computer screens were ablaze with white noise and blips and bleeps could be heard. Kirby's gaze was brought to something he believed to be a face within the static on one of the screen. It was somewhat familiar having human like features with what appeared to be shades over where the eyes should be. Despite this, he was not able to make it out. "What's the matter Kirby?" Tiff asked curiously. "Did you see something?"

"Poyo…," Kirby said softly.

"Hey, look, the Ghost Medal is reacting!" Adeleine said with awe as the medal began to glow.

The medal left her hands and levitated towards the center of the room. Spirit orbs manifested from the computer screens and converged around the medal and with a bright flash a figure emerged. "Heeheehee!" the spirit cackled. It was cyclopean with a malicious grin on its face. Its 'body' was bluish and it wore a plum colored wizard's hat. "I am Tedhaun, and I want to congratulate you on finding all the pieces of my Ghost Medal. Those Waddlekin made horrid puppets!"

"Puppets for what?" Waddle Dee asked growing a little peeved.

"Why, assembling the medal of course!" Tedhaun said with a grin. "You see, I grabbed hold of this ship, but so did an even nastier spirit. It was so filled with hate it locked me away in that medal and shattered it! I could still use a little of my power to influence those Waddlekin but it wasn't enough to override the control of the hateful spirit."

"So what do you want from us?" Adeleine asked ponderously.

"To tell you the truth, well, as much as a ghost can anyway, I want off this 'boat' but before I go, I want to play a game with someone!" Tedhaun explained.

"A game?" Tiff said raising her eyebrow. "We don't have the time for that!"

"Ohh, pleeease, it'll only take like five minutes!" Tedhaun pleaded with puppy dog eyes. "If you win I'll give you guys some new weapons!"

Kirby's team huddled together to make a plan. "Okay, should we…, trust this ghost?" Ribbon asked.

"I don't know, seems kinda fishy to me," Waddle Dee said with doubt.

"I know, but what if these new weapons help find Meta Knight?" Tiff asked throwing in the possibility.

"Hey, I ain't trusting no spook!" Dedede spat. "I'm fine with my hammer!"

"Tough call, I'll go with whatever you decide Kirby," Adeleine followed.

The party broke with Kirby approaching Tedhaun and agreeing to his game. "Wonderful, here are the rules," Tedhaun began with a grin. "I'm going to split into multiple copies, if you guess the correct one three times, you win. Lose and I'll throw you back onto the deck! If you think you got the right one, just toss something at me! Ready, one, two, and three!" he finished as he performed a twirl. Tedhaun split into four separate ghosts, each a different color; one cyan, another red, another yellow, and the original. They began to spin around Kirby's party with eerie laughter.

"Seriously, this is stupid we can't possibly be wrong," Waddle Dee snarked as he equipped his Archer ability and shot the purple one in the eye.

"OWWW, why you little!" Tedhaun moaned angrily. "Erm, I mean, correct! That was just a warm up, here's where we really start!"

Tedhaun split again but this time into many copies that looked nearly identical save for the shade of his purple color. They flew quickly around the ceiling making it really hard to not only find the real one, but to target it as well. Adeleine's knowledge of colors allowed her to recognize the real Tedhaun. She transformed into Master Green and shocked the quick moving ghost with her quicker lightning abilities. Tedhaun cried out as all the copies vanished. "Way to go Adeleine!" Tiff congratulated.

"OWW-OW-OW-OW, okay that's enough of this, time to get serious!" Tedhaun shouted in anger.

Tedhaun split into four perfect copies of himself only this time the four charged after each of Kirby's friends. The spirits entered the bodies of Kirby's team, possessing them. They writhed and shouted but it was in vain. Kirby's friends grew pale and their eyes gleamed purple as Kirby and Ribbon watched in terror. "H-hey, what's the meaning of this?!" Ribbon snapped.

"It's just part of the game of course!" Tedhaun said speaking through Tiff. "All you have to do is guess which one is the real me!"

No matter how hard Kirby or Ribbon tried, they could find absolutely no discernable clues to find the real Tedhaun. Their eyes glowed with the same shade of purple as they wore the exact same grin. Everyone also moved with perfect synchronization. Then it hit him, Kirby realized the answer. "Tedhaun, in everyone!" Kirby accused strongly.

All Kirby's teammates wore the same shocked expression as Tedhaun left them. "All right, all right, you win!" Tedhaun gave in. All of Kirby's friends seemed a tad dizzy as they regained their composure.

"Thanks Kirby, looks like you did it…," Tiff said rubbing her forehead.

"Yeah, can we just take our prize and go now?" Waddle Dee pleaded.

"I wanna lie down for a while…," Adeleine moaned.

"I told ya we shouldn't a trusted that ghost…," Dedede said in a daze.

"As promised I'll give you each a weapon that deals with Ghost powers!" Tedhaun shouted as he spun in the air. Everyone including Ribbon was engulfed in a strange purple light as they gained a new ability.

Kirby appeared as though he wore a white sheet and had blue shoes, "Ghost Kirby, a spooky soul, but I not scary, right?" he questioned thoughtfully.

Ribbon's hands glowed with ghostly blue flames. She shivered as a result, "I don't think I like the knowledge I was just given…," she moaned quietly.

"The Will-o-Wisp spell can burn anything," Tedhaun started with a grin. "It even follows your target and it will do so until it catches them!"

Tiff gained what appeared to be the garbs of a fortune teller. The exception was that her headband had two lit candles stuffed into it and they were lit dimly. "That Medium ability gives you the power to ask ghosts for help against your enemy as well as attack with a hammer and fiery will-o-wisps!" he explained.

"Oh wow, this is strange, I look like Mabel!" Tiff said aloud.

Waddle Dee was given a brown pot on his back with a red and yellow zigzag pattern around its base, a brown stone staff with a purple pearl shaped gem at the tip and a skeletal helm with horns. "Okay, very sure this is what Waddlelorn Cultist's use, so I'm not showing this to General Dee!" he said to himself.

"The Ghost Trapper ability gives you the ability to harness the spirits of Waddlekin ancestors that can change the weather into some spooky phenomenon!" Tedhaun giggled lightly. "Crimson Rain, Ghostly Fog and Bone Frost; take your pick it's quite effective! Your staff even douses opponents with ghostly flames!"

Adeleine's face was painted to resemble Tedhaun's face and she transformed into Tedhaun, "Heh, this would be great at Halloween parties!" she said with levity.

"Hmm, very good, I'm quite the looker aren't I?" Tedhaun teased. "My powers can posses weaker willed critters, but only for a short time!"

Dedede gained a wood carved tribal like mask that resembled Kabu, but it had red and white war paint. He also had a staff made from ancient looking grey stone that loosely resembled an ankh. "What's mine do?" he asked worriedly.

"The Shadowsoul Staff gives you the Shadow ability," Tedhaun explained. "You can make dark shadowy copies of yourself that also use some of your other weapons! It's handy if you need…, an extra hand. With that ladies and gentlemen, I bid you farewell!" Tedhaun giggled eerily as it vanished into thin air.

As the party regrouped the lights came on and the Communications Center was in just as bad a shaped as anywhere else on the Halberd. Luckily for Kirby's team five of the scientists came out of hiding and were glad the lights came back on. They were visibly spooked by Kirby and company's new weapons. Ribbon sent these scientists on their way and they made their way to the elevator that led downward into the reactor core room. "Well guys, this is our last stop, got everything we need?" Ribbon asked with a serious tone.

Everyone agreed silently and entered the elevator. With what seemed like the longest elevator ride of their lives it finally came to a stop and opened to reveal the most impressive room on the ship. At the center of the room sat a massive crystal within a holding coupler that was lined up and down with wires, tubes and other types of cables. It was also heavily protected by powerful auto laser turrets. The walls that once contained wheelies were vacant of said occupant; nevertheless, the room was still brightly lit by the power core. Kirby and his friends walked cautiously down the only catwalk available and their gaze was taken upward. The last scientist was hanging in the cables up top. Kirby's party cut him down and he awoke. He was visibly very afraid, so much so he had trouble speaking, "K-Kirby, beware…, ahead…, Meta Knight…, help him…!" he said blankly.

Ribbon wasted no time in sending him away. "There, that's all of the scientists, General Dee will be relieved. Let's get Meta Knight and blow this thing out of the sky!" Ribbon said eagerly.

The party quickly came to the center of the core where the power couplers held the crystal in place and someone was standing in front of it, facing it. Tiff noticed that dark cape anywhere, "Meta Knight it's you! Come on, let's get out of here!" she urged.

Meta Knight turned slightly and they noticed that something was terribly wrong. As he turned to face them completely his red eyes stared them down. He spoke in a voice that was not his own, "Finally…, you're all here…"

Dedede was very familiar with the owner of the voice. "No way, its you?!"

*End of Chapter*


End file.
